I've wondered about this as well. I think it would be possible to make a WW1 shooter, but harder. Most of the conflict was trench warfare which doesn't lend itself to a game (waiting for a few months in freezing and noisy conditions before being sent over the top and mowed down by a machine gun).

That said, there were areas where the conflict was different. Parts of Africa, for example -- though I don't know much about that.

Guns hadn't been invented yet, the standard issue weapon back then was a sharpened broom handle. Atari did make a WW1 themed game with a first person poking gameplay mechanic in the late nineties, but it was a critical and commercial flop. Nobody's touched the idea since sadly

You mean the way the sea stays steady as a rock and the buildings keep washing up and down? Yes I thought that was odd.

I think you see a lot of WW2 because it was pretty much the first war I'm aware of that had all the hallmarks of a modern war (tanks, aircraft, automatic weapons, etc); in addition to that there was a relatively defined 'good vs evil' element with regards to the Nazis. It's kind of a classic war, if that doesn't sound a bit cold. :~

I assume wars such as Vietnam and the Gulf War aren't covered so much because the USA didn't really accomplish a great deal with those, and the current Middle East war is a bit too current and sensitive to go into too much. Also the nature of it (massive civilian casualties, suicide bombings, etc) is a bit dicey to make a game out of.

I am noticing we're seeing a lot more fictional modern war games now though, such as imaginary current-day wars against Russia and China. And there's no end of futuristic war games now, although it is getting a bit old with space marines fighting against aliens in every other game.

Killzone 2 is pretty cool though. It's coming out this month, and is kind of a fusion of futuristic war and WW2: it's set in the future, but aesthetically and themetically it's got quite a strong WW2 vibe about it (just look at the picture on the right). Very excited about this — especially considering how bloody fantastic it looks.

But imagine the potential in a WW1 fps.. You wake up in a trench and your Lt. tells you to get up, and form in a line. While in line you see your fellow soldiers exchange looks of fear. You even see soldiers jogging down notes or putting the finishing touches on letters to home. Then you hear the sound of death:your Lt.'s whistle. You see your comrades charge out of their trenches,some of them getting gunned down as soon as they go "over the top" and falling right back into the trench. Then you finally reach the ladder and climb to fight in the battlefield. You run, dodging machine gun bullets and ducking into atillery craters hoping for a break in the gunfire. While your sitting in your makeshift foxhole you see that you have an unexpected visitor: a german soldier looking no older than 16. Its your choice to fight him or leave the foxhole peacefully and follow the rest of the advance. There were more fronts then the Western Front you know. There was the Italian Front which focused on defeating the Austrian army. The whole campaign was a fight over the Isonzo River, which lasted 12 BATTLES! There was also the Austrailian landings at the Anzac Cove during the failed Gallopi Campaign but I'm getting ahead of myself!(I know its alot of info but I'm a WW1 and WW2 history geek!)

I think it's also because no-one's done it outside of games. Saving Private Ryan made people interested in WWII again, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault sold a lot of copies, publishers were like, "Oh, so they want WWII games!" and Call of Duty, etc, all sold very well, so there was a large number of those FPSs that came-out.

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about World War 1, but as far as I'm aware a lot of it was trench warfare as Gabez said and I don't think that'd really lend itself particularly well to a game. The things you describe sound more appropriate for a scene in a movie than a game, and I just can't envision a whole game based around it being fun.

With that said, I do know one WW1 game is coming out either this year or next year, although I can't recall the name. Edge did an article about it a few months ago and it looked somewhat OK.

I think you mean the Boer war, but a war between boars actually does sound like an awesome idea for a game.

As for a WWI game, it'd probably have to be a strategy game, because yes, it was mostly trenches. An FPS might work though, since I imagine the fighting got pretty intense once the soldiers went out into no man's land. And there are plenty of battles you could recreate. And while the Western front was mostly trenches, there was also the Eastern front, which was much more open, hence more suitable to make an FPS out of.

That said, a strategy game would probably work best, maybe something like this. Or perhaps even a combat flight simulator, or a combat flight strategy game even, like Achtung Spitfire and Over the Reich. Or even better, an adventure game based on Blackadder Goes Forth. That'd be really fantastic.

On the subject of going over the top: no-man's land was mostly filled with thick barbed wire, not to mention craters, dead bodies and mines. On top of that, it was sometimes the order to walk across rather than run (even if you could run), the idea that a line of walking men would be more gentlemanly, noble, and ultimately more frightening for the enemy (it worked the other way round).

Not every level has to start with you just sitting in a trench!
They can start when your about to go Over The Top!
And as Haggis pointed out the Eastern Front had no trenches.
Also there could be a whole campaign based off of the Gallopi Front
Imagine Omaha beach but on the Beaches of Turkey!
Heavy Turkish machinegun fire was prominent on "W" and "V" beach
They could recreate famous batlles such as the Battle of the Somme,Verdun,Yrpes(the first battle that the Germans used poision gas to invade trenches before big assaults),or the Battle Of Ponzieres Heights(the greatest grenade battle of the war! Over 50,000 grenades were thrown!)BTW, the game your talkin about is "To End All Wars" but it isn't going to be sold here in the States I'm afraid
They had lots of weapons back then too!
Flamthrowers,machineguns,bolt action rifles,the very first submachine gun (the MP18) and the early prototype of the Thompson,rifle grenades,shotguns, tanks became a well-known battle friend once technology advanced!
Bombers like the German Zeppelin or airplanes which could mean lots of dogfights!

Only for the Battle of the Somme were they told to walk because of the 8 day preliminary atillery barrage! Their idiotic generals thought there was going to be little German resistance, so that meant british troops could literally walk into No mans Land!
Their generals saw no reason for them to run because of this idea. Of course this proved ineffective on July 1, 1916 when 58,000 British troops died on the first day! So they decided on the creeping barrage tactic would be the best way to go. Also those battlefields you described Gabez, they were only like that during battles like Verdun or Passhcendaele because of heavy rain conditions and LOTS of atillery shelling!
Besides that would make for a pretty dramatic level!

Also why not make a WW1 shooter?
Do you know how many WW1 veterans are left in the UK?
Just two! (Harry Patch and Henry Allingham)
People rarely know about WW1 and don't give a flying chicken with the pulley in the middle about those brave veterans!
Why shouldn't these men get a video game recreating their sacrifice so that generations to come shall never forget!
"To a man, his country his nothing more than his home
"To a soldier, his country is his family and he will fight to defend it!"
-I.D.M

I don't know how many others round these parts are into the "games as art" thing, but I think a powerful artistic statement could be made with a FPS set in the trenches.

In my game a trench would faithfully recreated which the player given no objective but to explore and experience life in the trenches. After some time they're told to get ready to go over the top. They player can either go over and get killed after a few seconds or refuse and be shot as a traitor.

There would be no way of winning the game.

You mean the way the sea stays steady as a rock and the buildings keep washing up and down? Yes I thought that was odd.

This is a little off-topic, but if you want to play a really good game about The Great War, then play The Last Express!

It's set a few days before war breaks out, and a lot of the story is foreshadowed by the war that you know will happen. A lot of the characters are representative of the forces in the war, as well, and it ends in a similar tone to the one Neon Git was suggesting. (See the game's making of video for more information -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddWb4LX69sE). It's not a first person shooter, but it is a first person adventure!

The game's on GameTap, but I think that's a subscription based wank. It's quite easily available second hand, but you have to pay quite a bit to get it.

Back on topic: I do think that games could explore far more territories. I think they will in the future. Even settings that you wouldn't think would work for a game might work, just like how non-conventional ideas sometimes make the best movies.

Lads i have some good damn news!
Go to 360magazine.co.uk and search up To End All Wars(in the previews section!) and you'll see rather impressive screenshots and a lenghty NEW preview!
P.S. Since I'm in such a good mood because of this, I all of a sudden love you all!
Have a good day!